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“Yes,” Joy said.
“I’m surprised by that,” Bessie said.“She’s due any day now with that baby.”
“She washuge,” Joy said.“But right up front, showing us how to dip the truffles.”Gretchen was also married to a Cooper brother—Cherry’s middle brother.
The doorbell rang again, and it could’ve been Sage or Cherry.Since the door didn’t open and no one walked in, Joy knew it was Cherry.“All right, ladies,” she said.She smoothed down her blouse.“This is her, and we don’t need to be scaring her off from the very first minute.”
“You act like she hasn’t met us before,” Lauren said.
“You haven’t met her,” Joy said.She and Bessie had, but Bea and Cass?Joy wasn’t sure if they had.They knew of Cherry, because she belonged to an old family here in Sweet Water Falls.Everyone knew the Coopers, and even if Cherry had left town for a while, she was still small-town royalty.
And only a couple of years older than Joy.
She opened the door to find the dark-haired beauty standing on the porch.She held no less than three loaves of bread in her arms, with a plastic bag swinging from her wrist.
“Cherry.”Joy lunged at her as one of the dark brown loaves toppled.She caught it and added, “I told you not to bring anything.”
“I couldn’t do it,” Cherry said with a nervous laugh.“My momma taught me to show up with food, and I work at a bread store.”
Bessie crowded out onto Joy’s small front porch too, taking the rest of the bread from Cherry.“Howdy, Cherry.”
“Hey, Bessie.”
“If that’s your momma’s jam, I’m going to make a run for it.”Bessie grinned, and Cherry handed her the bag.
“I wasn’t supposed to bring it anyway.”She smiled back and looked at Joy.She nodded to the bread.“And that’s day-old, so don’t be thinkin’ I did anything great.”
“Day-old from The Bread Boy still equates to delicious,” Joy said.She stepped back and let Cherry into the house.They faced the trio of women on the fringes of the kitchen, and Joy nodded to Lauren on the end.“This is Lauren Keller.Next to her is Cassandra Haslam.And then Beatrice Callahan.”
“Turner,” Bea said.“I got remarried a couple of years ago.”
Foolishness wove through Joy.“I knew that, of course.”She shook her head.“Sorry, Bea.”
“It’s fine.”She waved her hand at Joy.
“I still introduce myself as Cherry Cooper,” Cherry said.“And I’ve been married for three years now.”She grinned at Bea.“I think you and I were in the same math class in high school.”She raised her eyebrows.“No?”
“I honestly have no idea,” Bea said, laughing.“My life has been through so many iterations since high school.”
“Oh, girl, mine too,” Cherry said.She fit in well with the group, and Joy smiled to herself.Sage walked in a moment later, and Joy clapped her hands together.
“All right, everyone,” she said, giving the ladies a chance to settle down.“It’s barbecue night, and we don’t normally make speeches, but it’s my house.So.”She surveyed all of them, noting how Cherry didn’t stand apart from the group, but right next to Lauren as if they were also old friends.
“Bea, Cass, and Lauren have been on Hilton Head all summer, so we need a Real Update from them.”
“A capped Real Update?”Bea asked.
“That’s right,” Joy said.“No holding back.”She held up one finger and shook it at them.“And I’ll know if you do.”She switched her stern gaze to Cherry, where it softened.“Cherry Forrester is here with us tonight, so I want her to introduce herself.”
She looked at Bessie and Sage.“And then the rest of us can do our Good News Minute, okay?That way, everyone gets a quick update.”She swept her hands toward the dining room, which sat behind the four women still standing and beside the kitchen.“Let’s sit and get the wine flowing though.”
They did that, small conversations breaking out again.Joy let them, because she knew she could rope this crew back to a single conversation easily.In fact, she met Lauren’s eyes, and said, “You start, Lauren.”
“Well.”She exhaled.“Joy knows this, because I called her and talked her ear off about it.”She gave Joy a shy smile and tucked her hair behind her ear.“Blake Williams…he’s going to be the death of me.I think I’m going to give up on him.”
“No,” Bessie said, the word almost a moan.“Why?”
“He offered me a job.”Lauren rolled her eyes.She sighed.“And in my best red dress too.”
